I'd love to see the Giants be the team to land Swisher. He's not what he used to be, but he's always been a great clubhouse guy; he'd fit in famously with their chemistry, plus he's a bopper who hits 20 dingers and can play all 3 outfield spots. With Pagan in tow, Blanco just became more expendable. He's got tremendous speed, but an outfield tandem of Pagan and Blanco just surrenders entirely too much power, IMO. If Belt fills out and starts cranking out those long fly balls that used to die at the center field track, then okay. But if not, you gotta have more beef.

Pence, Posey, and Panda are all great, but none of them are going to get above 25 HR's playing half their games in China Basin. Scutaro, Blanco, and Crawford offer ZERO power; they'll be lucky to collect 20 home runs between the three of them. And if Brandon Belt is going to spend another year below 10 bombs, you need a left fielder who can go yard. I like Swisher on a nice 2-year deal, but I'd also love to get Cody Ross back for that right-handed pop. I don't want to pay Hamilton, but if they can get him for $20 million or less, I would sh*t a brick.

So yeah. Nick Swisher and Cody Ross are on my wish-list. I'd be happy with either.

If you're a hitter, you gotta have Bonds power to make $25 million in AT&T. I dunno if Hamilton cracks 25 homers playing half his games in Frisco and as a rule of thumb for power guys, you need to hit as many bombs as there are millions in your yearly pay stub.

I'm not worried about Posey getting a big deal, he is clearly that good and if his body starts to breakdown playing the position, he's still a good enough hitter to plug in at 1st base and still be worth the contract. Many catchers do play a long time (15+ years) - particularly guys that are exceptional at either hitting (Piazza 15 years) or defense (Pudge 20 years). When you factor in that Buster isn't native to one position or another (dude played every position in college and all over in the minors, he actually had a single game in college where he played every position), I'm sure he'll be fine.

I'm far more concerned with Timmy and offense. It's not that we need Timmy, we proved that we can get along fine without him (at least as a starter), but because we was my favorite player and I hate to see his decline continue. Regarding offense, this is a make or break season for Belt - we'll soon learn if he is destined to be a starter in the show, or ride the bench as a decent backup.

I'm also worried about Panda and his health issues as most everyone else is. This dude can illegitimately compete for an MVP one day, but nobody outside the bay knows or believes that and that's because he misses too many games.

The more I think about it, the more I dislike the Scuturo deal - this just has Aubrey Huff written all over it. The kind of thing that forces a club to commit to starting a guy for a season or so – just long enough to kill production at that position. I hope I’m wrong, but I disliked the Huff signing when that went down.

Yeah, Scutaro was overpaid. I dunno if Huff is where I see him going; more like Randy Winn. I see him going from .320 down to .270. The question is, who else would play second? They pretty much HAD to retain him.

Same issue this year as there was last year: you start with 2 outfield bats. I don't trust Torres or Blanco and I don't believe Gillespe or Peguero can come up and hit well as a starter for longer than a couple weeks maybe. I wanted Melky back; I don't care about the PEDs, dude is a hitter. Maybe not a 3 hole hitter, but he'd be handy to stretch the order out. Nevertheless, I have faith in Sabes and come deadline time, I don't believe we'll be without a quality 3rd outfielder.

Timmy looks bad; I'd swap him and Vogey in the order. Give Timmy the 5th spot.

I hope the middle 3 stay healthy. Pablo, Pence, and Posey all need 20 bombs this year because this team REALLY lacks pop. And I'm still on the Belt bandwagon, but the dude NEEDS to get above .260 this year. If the power finally comes around, all will be forgiven.

That's obviously tongue-in-cheek, but the lefties begin the year extremely comparably: 2 hits, 6 K's over 8 innings versus 4 hits, 7 K's over 9 innings. I think Bumgarner pitched the better game, but Clayton left the yard. Even then, though, Maddy's got just as many ribeyes as Kershaw. Giants pitchers start the year with a 0.00 ERA in 14.0 innings.

That'll end tonight though. In the hasbeen matchup of the week, Tim Lincecum's corpse takes on the guy who used to be Josh Beckett. We'll see who crumbles harder (I'm guessing Timmy gets touched up for 5 in as many innings, while the Giants put 3 on Beckett). Definitely won't be the low-scoring affairs we've seen both sides throw thus far. Depending on when the Giants knock Beckett out, I like them to win. Posey and Pence are due for a simultaneous showing.

Mr. Crackerz wrote:Timmy looked good in his last outing. Hopefully this is a trend.

It's not.

Agreed. When Timmy hits 94 on the gun again, I'll start to reinstate my faith in him. He's not a good enough PITCHER to have lax velocity; he's not Zito. That change-up gets a whole lot more swings when your 2-seamer buzzes at 96 with fuzz. I was citing Timmy's velocity back when people were still using words like "slump", "underweight", and "mechanics." Check this thread.

In the minors, Tim hit 3-digits on the gun multiple times. When he debuted, he threw 97-98. And amidst his 2 Cy Young's, he was floating at 94-96. Right now, he's throwing 89, 90... Occasionally 91. He still has the swing-through change-up, but hitters sit on it cause he's lost the high 2-seam that used to break down on a righty's hands. Tim Lincecum is a strike-out pitcher, not an outs pitcher. And strikeout arms are much more heavily dependent on velocity. Tim doesn't know how to pitch to contact. He doesn't watch runners. He doesnt have the rhythm that Cain or Bumgarner have.

The only thing that I can see helping Timmy is a cutter. If he can get movement the other way on his fastball and learn to attack corners, like Vogey did the past 2 years, Timmy can regain enough form to be a 3 or 4 guy. Right now, he's a bum season and a half away from being sent to the bullpen.

Cause even though Belt's SUPPOSED to be spraying hits all over the field as a fundamental, disciplined hitter, it's CRAWFORD whose been crushin it lately. This was the dude I watched in SJ who could smash for a middle infielder. He ain't Tulo or Brandon Phillips, but Brandon Crawford can swing the thunder rod like a boss. I'd love to see him grow into his cannon and knock 15 out from the SS spot. Honestly, I think Crawford's our most powerful SS bat since Aurillia. And I don't even need to bring up that boy's defense. Gold glove or bust this season; Stamos is like my tongue on date night: slick in the hole with a big finish that knocks all the bitches out.

Damn, I really sound like a Crawford fanboy, but for real. I think he's a tremendous SS, if he can get that bat to translate at the MLB level.